Hay-fork carrier.



"0.579386. l Patented Aug. 6,- I90]. F. c. PATTEN & a. HAUGEN.

HAY FORK CARRIER.

(Application filed m 31, 1900. (No Model.) 7 i 2 Shasta-Sheet I.

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No. 679,986.. Patented Aug. 6, l90l. F. C. PATTEN & GFHAUGEN.

(Application filed am. 31, 1900.;

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m: nonms Pmns c0 PNOTOLITNO" wAs UNITED v STAT-Es PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK o. PATTEN AND GUNDER HAUGEN, or sYoAMoRE, ILLINOIS, As SIGNORS TO THE FRANK o. PATTEN coMPANY, on SAME PLACE.

HAY-FORK CARRIER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 679,986, dated August 6, 1901. Application filed March 31, 1900 Serial No. 10,945. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, FRANK G. PATTEN and GUNDER HAUGEN, of Sycamore, Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hay-Fork Carriers, of which the fol-' lowing is a specification.

This Invention relates to improvements in hay-fork carriers, and refers more specifically to improvements in the tripping and latching mechanism of carriers of the type referred to.

Among the objects of the invention are to provide an improved construction whereby when the latch is retracted to release the fork it will be automatically engaged end held retracted in position to permit the reentrance of the fork-shank and to again automatically engage the latter; to provide improvements in mechanism whereby the latching mechanism is tripped when the carrier reaches a predetermined point and-is at the same time automatically engaged and held from movement along the overhead support until the fork has been rengaged with the carrier; to provide improvements in the details of conthe upper portion of the fork being shown as disengaged and lowered some distance from the carrier. Fig. 2 is a figuresimilar to Fig. 1, with the fork engaged with the carrier and the latching members in correspondinglychanged position. Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken centrally through the carrier.

Referring to said drawings, 1 designates as a whole the main carrier-frame, comprising,

in the preferred construction shown herein, a lower base or body portion provided at its lower side with a flaring or bell-shaped portion 2, the respective sides of which are formed integrally with parallel side plates 53, secured rigidly together by means of spacinglugs 4 at, and bolts or rivets 5, extending through said side framesand the spacing-lugs, as indicated in the several figures of the drawings, each of the side plates being provided with two upwardly and divergently arranged arms 6, located at the opposite ends of the side frames. Upon the upper end of each arm is mounted a track wheel 7, the upper ends of the pair of arms at each end being spaced apart a suitable distance to embrace a suitable rail or support 8, upon which the track-wheels travel.

Thelower bell-shaped portion of the carrier-frame is made concave at its under side to receive and direct the button-headed end 9 of the fork-shank 10 into engagement with the'latching mechanism located within and between the side frames of the carrier-body, as will be hereinafter explained, and upon the exterior of said bell-shaped portion is formed a circumferential recess 11, within which is seated a band-shaped support 12, provided at diametrically opposite points located in alinement with the overhead track 8 with pairs of bracket-arms 13, which respec tively carry pulleys 14 15. Each pair of bracket-arms is provided with a guard portion 16, which serves to confine the rope or cable 17 within the groove of the pulley, and also serves to act as a stop at its outer edge,

as indicated at 18, for engagement with a knot or the like upon the end of the pulley-rope to prevent the latter from pulling entirely through,,for a purpose which will hereinafter appear. From one pulley-as, for example, the right-hand one in Fig. 1-the rope passes downwardly around a pulley 19, mounted in asuitable'frame upon the shank of the fork, thenceuparound theleft-hand pulley 14, and thence to the operator, it being obvious that by this arrangement the fork may be raised into engagement with the carrier or allowed to descend therefrom at will.

Describing now the latching and locking mechanism of the carrier, whereby the fork is held in operative engagement with the carrier and the latter is held from movement along the rail, 20 designates a combined tripping and locking block mounted rigidly upon the under side of the rail 8, said block com- 5 flat notch or recess 23, and laterally-extending marginal flanges 24:, which are coincident with the said lower edge of the depending web and the upper surfaces of which form inclined ways 25 for engagement with one of the latching members of the carrier.

26 designates as a whole the latching member which cooperates with the locking and tripping block, said memberconsisting of an u pwardly-curved bar of a suitable width to fit I5 easily between the side plates of the carrier and pivoted at one end, as indicated at 27, by

means of a bolt, so as to permit its opposite end to rise and fall freely. The upper end portion of said latch member is bifurcated zo to embrace the opposite sides of the flanges 24 l of the block 20, and each fork-arm thereof is provided with an inturned lug 28, adapted to engage and'slide upon the ways of the said locking-block, the under sides of the lugs '25 being to this end rounded, so as to facilitate such movement. The upper edge 29 of that portion of' the arm which extends between the lower ends of the fork-arms of the latchingmember is located at such distance be- 30 low the overhanging lugs 28 as to permit a free passage of the flanges 24 therebetween,

said'fianges or the bottom of the notch 23 to insure a positive cam movement of the latch- 5 ing member as the carrier is carried longitudinally of the locking-block or to insure a positive locking engagement of said latching member with the notch 23 when the latch member is engaged with the central portion 40 of the flanges 24and is looked positively againstdownward movement in a manner now to be described.

3O designates as a whole the fork-latch, which, as will be seen by reference to the drawings, is of peculiar conformation, com- 5o fork-engaging lug 34, and an intermediate operating lug 35, all of said parts being preferably and as shown herein cast integrally with each other. By reason of the pivotal arrangement of the fork-latch as a whole it tends to oscillate by gravity into position to admit the free passage of the buttonhead of the shank into the convex cavity of the carrier, or, in other words, it tends to assume the position shown in dotted linesin Fig. 1, in which position the upwardly-extending lug 33 thereof is brought into register with a downwardly-extending lug 36, formed upon the lower side of the latching member 26, and engages and holds the latter in such position as to positively lock it against downward movement, it being understood that the downward oscillation of the fork-latch beyond the position indicated in dotted lines is prevented by engagement of the lug-34 thereof with the internal wall of the carrier-recess. The upper end of the lug 33 is, however, inclined in such manner as to permit the forklatch to oscillate upwardly, notwithstanding the latching member 26 may be hearing thereon with considerable force, and the construction of the cooperating lugs 33 and 36 is such that when the fork latch has been oscillated upwardly sufliciently to carry the engaging lug 34 thereof into engagement with the under side of the head of the fork-shank the lug 33 willbe carried into position to permit the lug 36 to drop downwardly into latched engagement with the side portion 37 thereof, and thus hold the fork positively in engagement with the carrier, it being understood that the movement of the engaging lug 34 into bearing with the fork-shank at one side carries the latter into engagement with a supporting edge or surface 38, extending across the opposite side of the concave recess of the carrier. The operating-lug 35 is so located relatively to the lug 34 that as the fork-shank is drawn upwardly into the carrier the upper end of the button-head will engage the under side of the lug 35 and carry the latter upward positively, thus at the same time carrying the locking or engaging lug 34 into positive engagement with the shank. but close enough to the under surfaces of With the parts constructed and arranged substantially as shown the operation of the mechanism will be readily understood, but may be briefly described as follows: Assuming that the parts are in position shown in Fig. 1, the fork is lowered to discharge its load, the fork-latch 30 is oscillated downwardly in the position torelease the forkshank and to receive the latter when it is returned, and the latch member 26 is held posi= tively uplifted, so that the carrier can only move a limited distance in either direction before it will be positively arrested by the engagement of the edge 29 of said latching mem ber with one or the other of the inclined un= der surfaces of the notch 23. The parts be= ing thus held, the operator elevates the fork into engagement with the carrier by drawing on the left-hand end of the rope or cable 17. As the head of the fork-shank enters the recess of the carrier it engages the lug 35 of the fork-latch, thereby oscillating the latter upwardly into position to allow'the latching member 26 to swing downwardlyand at the same time carrying the engaging lug 34 into locked engagement with the button-head of the fork-shank. Obviously a continued pull of the rope will now draw the carrier 'toward the operator, the carrier being freed by the downward movement of the latching member 26 from the locking-block and the I latching member 26 being carried into full and positive engagement with the lug 33 of the fork-latch by the action of the inclined under surface of the locking-block upon the part 29 thereof. The automatic vtripping action and locking of the carrier to the lockingblock is precisely the reverse of the foregoing operation, it being obvious that as the carrier approaches the locking-block, with the fork suspended therefrom, the lugs 28 of the latching member will engage and ride upwardly upon the inclined Ways of the locking-block, thus automatically tripping the fork-latch as the carrier reaches a position central with reference to said block, and by the same movement positively locking the carrier to the block.

While the construction herein shown is deemed a preferred embodiment of the invention, yet it will be obvious that the details thereof may be modified to some extent without departing from the spirit of the invention, and it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the precise details of construction shown, except as they may be made the subject of specific claims. It is also to be understood that while the term fork has been used throughout the specification and claim, this term is to be understood in the generic sense as meaning any hay or analogous supporting device, whether Y it be a fork within the ordinary meaning of that term or a sling, grapple, or other commoditysupporting device provided with a shank adapted for engagement with the carrier.

We claim as our invention-- In a hay-fork carrier, the combination with a carrier-frame, a rail or support upon which said carrier-frame is arranged to travel and a locking and tripping block mounted upon the under side of said rail and provided with a cam portion of inverted-T shapein crosssection, the lateral flange portions thereof being arched upwardly between their ends to form upper cam-surfaces and a lower lock ing-surface, of a block-engaging latch member pivotally mounted on the carrier-frame and provided with a bifurcated engaging member having inturned lugs adapted to pass into operative engagement with said lateral camsurfaces when the carrier approaches the lockin g and tripping block from either direction and a crotch or web portion underlying and extending between the arms adapted to engage said lower locking-surface, a pro= ject-ion upon the under side of said latch member located at a point substantially beneath the crotch portion which engages the lockingsurface and means for engaging said projection to hold the latch member positivelyin uplifted position, substantially as described.

' FRANK O. PATTEN.

GUNDER HAUGEN.

Witnesses:

O. EMIL GRAHN, JAMES C. BLAOKF'ORD. 

